The three‑hour consultation, organised by UN Women India and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, brought together representatives from academia, law‑enforcement, civil‑society groups and the NITI Aayog to discuss how urban design can remove barriers that limit women’s mobility, access to public spaces and participation in the economy.
“Safe cities are no longer only about preventing violence but about how women move around cities, access public spaces and participate in economic activities,” said Rajib Kumar Sen, Programme Director at NITI Aayog, emphasizing that inclusive planning can create a virtuous cycle of women’s meaningful access to urban life.
A World Bank analysis of India’s 2011 Census data shows that 45.4 % of women walked to work compared with 27.4 % of men, underscoring the reliance on foot travel. The same analysis cites surveys indicating that between 50 % and 70 % of women in Indian cities avoid public transport for fear of harassment.
A 2012 baseline survey by UN Women and the International Center for Research on Women found that 92 % of women in Delhi had experienced some form of sexual violence in public spaces, and only 5 % considered those spaces safe, highlighting the urgency of redesigning urban environments.
UN Resident Coordinator in India, Stefan Priesner, stressed the shift from designing “for women” to designing “with women,” arguing that women and girls must be partners in shaping public spaces rather than merely end‑users.
Shoko Ishikawa, Country Representative of UN Women India, added that the vision is “cities and public spaces where women and girls do not have to negotiate their safety every time they step outside, and where mobility expands their choices rather than limiting them.”
New Delhi was one of the five founding cities of the Safe Cities initiative, alongside Cairo, Kigali, Port Moresby and Quito. The programme now spans 75 cities across 36 countries, and in India it dovetails with parallel efforts such as women‑friendly tourism projects in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, safe public‑space pilots in Jabalpur, and support for women workers in the spice, cotton and tea sectors.
Participants said the consultation will feed into upcoming urban‑planning guidelines and municipal budgets, aiming to embed gender‑responsive design standards that could improve safety, increase women’s use of public transport and boost their economic participation across Indian cities.